Semiconductor component manufacturers are constantly striving to lower their manufacturing costs by increasing the number of semiconductor devices that can be manufactured from a single wafer, i.e., increasing the device density. Because high density integrated circuits generate large amounts of heat, an important concern in their design and manufacture is heat removal. One reason for concern is that the additional heat slows down the semiconductor devices. Another reason for concern is that if sufficient amounts of heat are not removed, the semiconductor devices making up the integrated circuit may become damaged or destroyed during operation.
As part of the manufacturing process, semiconductor component manufacturers saw or slice the semiconductor wafers into portions called semiconductor chips. Then, they typically enclose the semiconductor chips within a protective package to protect them from physical and environmental stresses. These packages may have a large thermal impedance that inhibits transport of heat (commonly called heat dissipation) away from the semiconductor chips or they may trap heat near the integrated circuits, thereby increasing the probability of integrated circuit failure. One technique for increasing the amount of heat transferred away from a semiconductor chip has been to form a thermal interface material on the semiconductor chip and contact the thermal interface material with a structure capable of conducting a large amount of heat such as, for example, a lid or a heatsink. The lid spreads the heat from a concentrated source in the semiconductor chip to a larger area more suitable for heat transport. A heatsink has a large area from which to dissipate heat and oftentimes is used in conjunction with a fan. The thermal interface material facilitates transfer of heat away from the semiconductor chip to the lid or the heatsink. A drawback with thermal interface materials is that their constituent components could become oxidized which increases the thermal impedance of the thermal interface material and decreases the amount of heat conducted by the thermal interface material. For example, in a thermal interface material comprising an open-cell polymer filled with liquid gallium, the gallium droplets have a large surface area relative to their volume, which increases the amount of gallium that can be converted to gallium oxide. Because gallium oxide has a high thermal impedance relative to the unoxidized gallium metal, it inhibits the transfer of heat away from the semiconductor chip and increases the probability of catastrophic device failure. Similarly, indium is also susceptible to oxidation when used in a thermal interface material.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a thermal interface material suitable for use in the manufacture of integrated circuits that inhibits oxide formation. It would be of further advantage to have a semiconductor component and a method for manufacturing the semiconductor component that includes using the thermal interface material.